Expanding their earlier duo work into a live setting, pianist Chris Abrahams and percussionist Mark Wastell engage in a patient, textural session of free improv, where rippling piano figures and resonant cymbal washes unfold in a deeply attentive dialog, shaping a meditative, slowly evolving sound world defined by subtle interplay, spatial awareness, and restrained, ritual-like intensity.
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Chris Abrahams-Steinway grand piano
Mark Wastell-cymbals
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Label: Confront
Catalog ID: Core 66
Squidco Product Code: 37359
Format: CDR
Condition: New
Released: 2026
Country: UK
Packaging: Cardboard sleeve, sealed
Recording at Vortex Jazz Club, in London, UK, on May 8th, 2025, by Andrew Lisle.
Bringing together two deeply attuned voices in contemporary improvised music, Chris Abrahams and Mark Wastell extend their collaborative language in Two Thousand Sacred Steps, a live recording that evolves from their earlier duo work into a more expansive and patient exploration of texture, resonance, and time. Following their 2018 session A Thousand Sacred Steps, this meeting captures the pair in a heightened state of responsiveness, where Abrahams' rippling, cyclical piano figures unfold in long, fluid arcs while Wastell's cymbal work shapes the surrounding space with metallic washes, subtle friction, and carefully placed accents.
Rather than foregrounding momentum or density, the duo cultivates a meditative, almost ritualistic atmosphere, allowing sound to accumulate and dissipate with an organic sense of pacing. Abrahams, known for his work with The Necks, brings a harmonic language that hovers between tonal suggestion and abstraction, while Wastell's approach to percussion emphasizes timbre and decay over pulse, creating a shifting field of overtones that interact closely with the piano's sustain.
The result is a dialogue grounded in deep listening, where each gesture feels provisional yet purposeful, and where silence and resonance carry as much weight as the notes themselves, shaping a continuous, immersive sonic environment that unfolds with quiet intensity.
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Chris Abrahams "Chris Abrahams was born in Oamaru, New Zealand but grew up in Sydney, Australia. He became very active in the Sydney jazz scene in the early eighties playing with modern jazz groups including Mark Simmonds' Freeboppers and The Keys Music Orchestra. With Lloyd Swanton he formed the 60's modern jazz-influenced The Benders in 1982. During its day, the band released three albums - E, False Laughter and Distance. In 1984 Chris recorded and released his first solo piano album - Piano, followed in 1986 by Walk. In 1985 Chris became a founding member of the Sydney indie rock band The Sparklers. As a result of this, Chris began working regularly with the singer and songwriter Melanie Oxley. Chris collaborated with Melanie, writing songs and producing albums, throughout the nineties. There are five releases with her: Resisting Calm (1990), Welcome to Violet (1992), Coal (1994), Jerusalem Bay (1998) and Blood Oranges (2003). Chris released a third solo piano album, Glow, in 2001. This was followed in 2003 by Streaming, and then Thrown (2004), Play Scar (2010) and Memory Night (2013). Chris has collaborated, in both recording and performance, with many contemporary improvising musicians including Burkhard Beins, Mike Cooper and Anthony Pateras. He performs regularly in the improvising music scenes both in Australia and Europe." ^ Hide Bio for Chris Abrahams • Show Bio for Mark Wastell "Mark Wastell, born 1968 and London based, is a versatile musician who has played a central role in the British and European improvised music scene for thirty years. He has performed and recorded extensively and his varied resume includes projects with Derek Bailey, Phil Durrant, John Butcher, Lasse Marhaug, Rhodri Davies, Simon H. Fell, Burkhard Beins, John Tilbury, Mattin, Tony Conrad, Evan Parker, Tim Barnes, Bernhard Günter, Keith Rowe, John Zorn, Peter Kowald, Joachim Nordwall, Otomo Yoshihide, David Toop, Max Eastley, Hugh Davies, Julie Tippetts, Alan Skidmore, Mike Cooper, Chris Abrahams, Stewart Lee, Clive Bell, Arild Andersen, Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Maggie Nicols, Will Gaines, Thomas Lehn, Thurston Moore and David Sylvian. Mark has also run the Confront Recordings label since 1996." ^ Hide Bio for Mark Wastell
4/29/2026
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
4/29/2026
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
1. Traverse 3:45
2. Range 4:28
3. Navigate 5:25
4. Course 2:19
5. Venture 6:41
6. Advance 3:08
7. Transit 5:12
8. Wend 3:36
9. Forge 3:19
10. Peregrinate 12:29
11. Roam 5:13
April 2026
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Piano & Keyboards
Percussion & Drums
The Necks
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